Rising political unrest in Libya rattled the North African nation's oil patch Monday, prompting major international oil companies to pull out workers and sending crude prices higher.

Amid increasingly violent anti-government protests, BP said it would suspend a key exploration program in the Libyan desert, while Shell, Marathon Oil and other producers said they had begun relocating employees to safer areas until tensions eased.

But the prospect of that happening anytime soon appeared remote Monday as the crisis widened and Col. Moammar Gadhafi's 40-year reign as Libya's leader showed further signs of weakening.

Traders seized on the situation, driving crude prices up on speculation that turmoil in Libya would crimp that country's oil output and spill over into bigger oil-producing countries in the Middle East.

In London, the price of Brent crude, widely used as a global benchmark for prices, jumped $3.22 to close at $105.74﻿ a barrel, after spiking as high as $108.70 earlier in the day.

U.S. benchmark crude climbed $5.22 to $91.42 a barrel in electronic trading on a day when most U.S. financial markets were closed in observance of Presidents Day.

Libya produced about 1.65 million barrels per day of crude oil in 2010, making it Africa's third-largest crude producer behind Nigeria and Algeria, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. It also has the largest proven oil reserves of any African nation, at about 44 billion barrels.

“BP said Monday it is temporarily suspending preparations for drilling in the southwestern Ghadames Basin that was scheduled to start this spring.

Shell, meanwhile, was working to relocate staff out of offices in the Libyan capital of Tripoli, saying the “safety and security of all our staff remains our primary concern.”

Marathon Oil, which holds a 16.33 percent stake in an area known as the Waha Concessions, also was taking steps to protect expatriate personnel and to evacuate their dependents, the Houston company said. The Libyan National Oil Corp., which holds a 59.16 percent working interest, operates the project, while Houston's ConocoPhillips and New York's Hess Corp. also hold minority stakes.

While Libya only contributes about 2 percent of world oil production, the situation is being watched closely for its potential to spawn political uprisings in other member nations in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, including Saudi Arabia.

“Until today, this instability (in the Middle East) wasn't even built into the price yet,” said Myers Jaffe, contending that prices could go higher.

Because oil refiners on the East and Gulf coasts rely heavily on international crudes that track the higher global price, most U.S. consumers likely will see the retail price of retail gasoline keep rising if the turmoil in the Middle East continues.

Up nearly 5 cents over the past week, the national average price for regular unleaded hit $3.17 a gallon Monday, according to AAA's Daily Fuel Gauge Report. The average in San Antonio was $2.98.